Whenever negotiations between political parties hit a dead-end, the EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn comes to unblock the standstill. He the last four months he has visited Macedonia three times on the 2nd of June, the 13th of July and the18th of September.
After a turbulent week, Commissioner Hahn will arrive for the fourth time on Monday in Skopje.
His spokeswoman Maja Kocijalncic said that they are closely following developments in the country and urge all parties to continue to work on implementing the Przhino Agreement.
Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has accused the opposition that because of their behavior, they virtually blackmailed the Commissioners visit to Macedonia.
This time they’ll have a little more work to do and this is what awaits him in Skopje.
1. Feuding political parties
Formally, the opposition SDSM have returned to Parliament, but the animosity and staring “into space” of the main parties continues and intensifies. Following the Council’s decision to choose only seven of the 14 candidates for Assistant Prosecutors which Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva, the opposition decided to abandon negotiations. However this morning the parties reached an agreement on electoral legislation.
2.Stalled negotiations
The Belgian facilitator Peter Vanhoutte and the ruling party VMRO-DPMNE and DUI issued a statement that they had reached an agreement on the Electoral Law and all other details on the elections, but SDSM responded that negotiations were at an end, and there was no agreement as the Przhino Agreement to them, was “not active”.
3. Feuding prosecutors
The Special Prosecutor requested just over 1 million euros and 14 Assistant Prosecutors, but one of the reasons the Council of Public Prosecutors did not approve on Janeva whole team was because the other prosecutors in Macedonia lacked money and prosecutors, and demanded better conditions for work. Katica Janeva seeked help from the media and appealed to the appointed Assistant Special Prosecutors to take the oath.
4. Status Quo in the situation with the media
Working groups had until October the 15th to agree on certain issues about the functioning of the media. Nonetheless, representatives of the political parties only had one meeting where journalists’ associations AJM and MAJ gave their suggestions on how to improve the situation with the media.
5. Unformed (parliamentary) committee of Inquiries
The Inquiry Commission was scheduled to be made up of members of political parties should have a mandate to discuss the wire tapped conversations, where they came from and there contents. The Commission was supposed to be established by mid-September, but in November the first report will be submitted.
6. Migrant crisis
The great wave of migrants continues to flood into Macedonia. According to reports from the Ministry of Interior of Macedonia, the daily average of migrants transiting through the country is approximately 2,500 registered migrants. According to UNHCR, however, that figure is twice as much. The effect this problem is having on the country caused the G0overnment to declare a State of Emergency on the southern border, where the Army and police were deployed. Presently migrants are being peacefully and smoothly transported to the Serbian border.
